Girls volleyball now fully funded in Dover: Puts district in compliance with Title IX

Wednesday

Jul 30, 2008 at 3:15 AM

By LESLIE MODICA

DOVER — Recommendations from a random review by the federal government has prompted the Dover School Board to authorize full funding of girls volleyball at Dover High School.

The sport is the last girls sport to receive full funding by the district, and Superintendent John O'Connor said the change will ensure compliance under federal Title IX standards.

The change will cost the district an additional $7,465, which O'Connor said will be used to fund coaching, equipment and transportation. In order to pay for the change, he said the district will need to "find some economies" within the budget, but he said the extra necessary funding is small enough that it should not be difficult to find within the existing budget.

The sport was previously supported by the booster club and parents of team members, O'Connor said.

Title IX is a federal law passed in 1972 to ensure a person, on the basis of sex, cannot be excluded in the participation of any education program or activity receiving financial assistance, which includes school athletic programs.

O'Connor said it was determined the district should fund girls volleyball using a ratio of the number of female students versus male students that participate in district-funded sports.

But both O'Connor and members of the School Board said although they would fund girls volleyball to comply, they think the standards should factor in the number of females participating in cheerleading, which is not one of the sports sanctioned under Title IX.

"We have argued that we think their decision making is flawed," O'Connor said. "They (cheerleaders) practice long and hard and should be included."

O'Connor said more than 30 female students participate in cheerleading between both Dover Middle School and Dover High School.

The Title IX report also drew attention to one instance last year when the girls field hockey team had to vacate their locker room to make room for a visiting football team.

O'Connor said although it only happened in one instance, Athletic Director Peter Wotton is working with all of the athletic schedules to ensure it does not happen again.

The report also recommended the district begin distributing regular surveys in the schools, which would poll students about which sports they would like to have introduced into the athletic department.

O'Connor said the schools distributed a similar survey last year, but plans to give them to students on a more regular basis.

The Title IX review was not prompted by any complaints of students, but instead, the Dover School District was chosen as part of a regular, random review of compliance under federal standards.

If schools do not comply with the requirements, they stand to lose all federal funding, which O'Connor said amounts to more than $1 million for the Dover School District.

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